Genetic Phenomena Commons^™

Regulation Of Polycystin-1 Function By Calmodulin Binding, Nicholas Doerr, Yidi Wang, Kevin R. Kipp, Guangyi Liu, Jesse J. Benza, Vladimir Pletnev, Tengis S. Pavlov, Alexander Staruschenko, Ashraf M. Mohieldin, Maki Takahashi, Surya M. Nauli, Thomas Weimbs

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a common genetic disease that leads to progressive renal cyst growth and loss of renal function, and is caused by mutations in the genes encoding polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2), respectively. The PC1/PC2 complex localizes to primary cilia and can act as a flow-dependent calcium channel in addition to numerous other signaling functions. The exact functions of the polycystins, their regulation and the purpose of the PC1/PC2 channel are still poorly understood. PC1 is an integral membrane protein with a large extracytoplasmic N-terminal domain and a short, ~200 amino acid C-terminal ...

Investigation Of Genetic Markers In Sub-Elite Australia Rules Football Players, Ysabel Jacob, Ashley Cripps, Tess Evans, Paola Chivers, Christopher Joyce, Ryan Anderton

Christopher Joyce

Law And The Sciences Of The Brain/Mind, Stephen J. Morse

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter is a submission to the Oxford Handbook of Law and the Regulation of Technology edited by Roger Brownsword. It considers whether the new sciences of the brain/mind, especially neuroscience and behavioral genetics, are likely to transform the law’s traditional concepts of the person, agency and responsibility. The chapter begins with a brief speculation about why so many people think these sciences will transform the law. After reviewing the law’s concepts, misguided challenges to them, and the achievements of the new sciences, the chapter confronts the claim that these sciences prove that we are really not ...

Identification Of Potential Drug Targets In Cancer Signaling Pathways Using Stochastic Logical Models, Peican Zhu, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi, Hasan Uludag, Jie Han

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The investigation of vulnerable components in a signaling pathway can contribute to development of drug therapy addressing aberrations in that pathway. Here, an original signaling pathway is derived from the published literature on breast cancer models. New stochastic logical models are then developed to analyze the vulnerability of the components in multiple signalling sub-pathways involved in this signaling cascade. The computational results are consistent with the experimental results, where the selected proteins were silenced using specific siRNAs and the viability of the cells were analyzed 72 hours after silencing. The genes elF4E and NFkB are found to have nearly no ...

Transgenerational Epigenetic Effects Of Cocaine On Circadian Behavior And Cocaine Reward, Victoria Shaker

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Transgenerational Epigenetic Effects of Cocaine on Circadian Behavior and Cocaine Reward

Victoria Shaker, Ashley Shemery, Alex Yaw, & J. David Glass.

Department of Biological Sciences and School of Biomedical Sciences

Professor Glass served as the primary advisor. Ashley Shemery and Alex Yaw served as co-advisors.

Hypothesis: Cocaine irreversibly lengthens circadian period (tau), which could underlie the significant health issues of cocaine addiction. Others have reported that rewarding effects of paternal cocaine use are transgenerational. We hypothesize that the disruptive effects of cocaine on tau may also be transgenerational, causing altered subjective cocaine reward response in offspring (F1).

Methods: Male mice were exposed to cocaine-water (0.5 mg/ml) or water (control) for 6 wks. Immediately following treatment, the mice were mated with cocaine naïve dams. F1 reference for cocaine or sucrose (to test for reward specificity) was analyzed using a dual bottle (water and drug [0.15 mg/ml] or sucrose [2%]) free-choice regimen. Tau was analyzed using activity sensors with computerized data acquisition.

Results and Conclusions: Lengthened tau was evident in sires with forced cocaine compared to controls (24.18+0.17 vs. 24.07+0.02; p0.05). These data reveal that there is no transgenerational transmission of cocaine-lengthened tau in F1 males, but there was an alteration of tau in F1 females. Significantly, paternal cocaine intake significantly altered F1 preference for cocaine, but not sucrose, suggesting specificity to drug reward. Thus, cocaine addiction could involve a transgenerational paternal mode of inheritance.

Keywords: epigenetics, transgenerational, cocaine, sucrose, mice, sex differences, drug abuse, circadian, biological rhythms, addiction

Congenital Stationary Night Blindness In The Dog: Common Mutation In The Rpe65 Gene Indicates Founder Effect, Gustavo Aguirre, Victoria Baldwin, Sue Pearce-Kelling, Kristina Narfström, Kunal Ray, Gregory Acland

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Purpose: To clone and characterize the canine RPE65 cDNA from normal dog, examine for mutations, and establish if the mutation identified in Swedish briard dogs with retinal dystrophy is present in dogs of the same breed that originated from the United States and other countries, and are affected with congenital stationary night blindness. Methods: Fifteen briard dogs were studied, of which 10 were affected with csnb, and five were clinically normal. In addition, we tested samples from four Swedish dogs, and samples from a briard affected with progressive retinal atrophy. RPE65 cDNA was cloned a from retinal cDNA library by ...

Pharmacogenomic Management Of Familial Hypercholesterolemia: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Brian V. Skibo

Honors in the Major Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and emerging pharmacogenomics therapies that propose to lower serum low density lipid (LDL) levels. The search of various data bases resulted in nine research articles being selected for review. Syntheses of the articles suggest emerging phamacogenomic drug therapy can improve treatment outcomes for individuals with a diagnosis of FH. The Human Genome Project (HGP) has had far reaching applications for genomic technologies and pharmacagenomic interventions, tailored to human conditions associated with select genomic traits. Synthesis of nine research articles demonstrate that little is known on the topic and reveals ...

Comorbidity Between Alzheimer’S Disease And Seizure Episodes, Maryam Amini

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

A mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which overexpress the human amyloid precursor protein (APP), experience Kainic Acid (KA) induced seizures that are more severe than wild type (WT) mice. The latency and severity of seizures observed in AD mice are similar to those of Synaptophysin knockout (Syp KO) mice. Addition of amyloid plaques (Aβ) to cells in vitro leads to the breakdown of Syp-VAMP2 complex. In the present study, we investigated if the breakdown of Syp-VAMP2 complex is responsible for the observed seizure activity in AD mice. The binding of cholesterol to Syp is necessary for biogenesis ...

Overt Cleft Palate Phenotype And Tbx1 Genotype Correlations In Velo-Cardio-Facial/Digeorge/22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Patients, Sean Herman, Tingwei Guo, Donna Mcdonald Mcginn, Anna Blonska, Alan Shanske, Anne Bassett, Eva Chow, Mark Bowser, Molly Sheridan, Frits Beemer, Koen Devriendt, Ann Swillen, Jeroen Breckpot, Maria Digilio, Bruno Marino, Bruno Dallapiccola, Courtney Carpenter, Xin Zheng, Jacob Johnson, Jonathan Chung, Anne Marie Higgins, Nicole Philip, Tony Simon, Karlene Coleman, Damian Heine Suñer, Jordi Rosell, Wendy Kates, Marcella Devoto, Elaine Zackai, Tao Wang, Robert Shprintzen, Beverly Emanuel, Bernice Morrow, International Chromosome 22q11.2 Consortium

Robert J. Shprintzen

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome/DiGeorge syndrome, also known as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome, with an estimated incidence of 1/2,000 – 1/4,000 live births. Approximately 9–11% of patients with this disorder have an overt cleft palate (CP), but the genetic factors responsible for CP in the 22q11DS subset are unknown. The TBX1 gene, a member of the T-box transcription factor gene family, lies within the 22q11.2 region that is hemizygous in patients with 22q11DS. Inactivation of one allele of Tbx1 in the mouse does not result in CP, but inactivation of ...

Functional Analysis Of Genomic Variation And Impact On Molecular And Higher Order Phenotypes, Ashutosh Kumar Pandey

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Reverse genetics methods, particularly the production of gene knockouts and knockins, have revolutionized the understanding of gene function. High throughput sequencing now makes it practical to exploit reverse genetics to simultaneously study functions of thousands of normal sequence variants and spontaneous mutations that segregate in intercross and backcross progeny generated by mating completely sequenced parental lines. To evaluate this new reverse genetic method we resequenced the genome of one of the oldest inbred strains of mice—DBA/2J—the father of the large family of BXD recombinant inbred strains. We analyzed ~100X wholegenome sequence data for the DBA/2J strain ...

Problem Solving Skill And Obesity In Children, Caitlin R. Spano

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract:

Introduction: Childhood obesity is a problem that leads to many serious health effects including early maturation, decreased quality of life and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. In 2012, over one third of children were considered obese (Childhood Obesity Facts 2015). Efforts have been made to reduce this number but they have not been fully successful (Nutrition Standards for School Meals 2015, Prevalence of Childhood obesity in the United States 2011-2012 2015). What other factors are causing kids to choose foods that lead to weight gain.

Literature Review: In research regarding psychological motivations of overeating, there has been a correlation ...

Plasma Micrornas Are Associated With Atrial Fibrillation (The Mirhythm Study) And Change After Catheter-Ablation, David Mcmanus, Kahraman Tanriverdi, Honghuang Lin, Nada Esa, Menhel Kinno, Rosalind Lee, Divakar Mandapati, Stanley Tam, Patrick Ellinor, John Keaney, Emelia Benjamin, Victor Ambros, Jane Freedman

Victor R. Ambros

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common dysrhythmia in the U.S. and Europe. Few biomarkers exist to identify individuals at risk for AF. Cardiac microRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in susceptibility to AF and are detectable in the circulation. Nevertheless, data are limited on how circulating levels of miRNAs relate to AF or change over time after catheter- ablation.

Methods: In 211 miRhythm participants (112 with paroxysmal or persistent AF; 99 without AF), we quantified plasma expression of 86 miRNAs associated with cardiac remodeling or disease by high-throughput quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We used qRT-PCR to ...

Conformational Changes And Translocation Of Tissue-Transglutaminase To The Plasma Membranes: Role In Cancer Cell Migration, Ambrish Kumar, Jianjun Hu, Holly Lavoie, Kenneth Walsh, Donald Dipette, Ugra Singh

Jianjun Hu

Background Tissue-transglutaminase (TG2), a dual function G-protein, plays key roles in cell differentiation and migration. In our previous studies we reported the mechanism of TG2-induced cell differentiation. In present study, we explored the mechanism of how TG2 may be involved in cell migration. Methods To study the mechanism of TG2-mediated cell migration, we used neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) which do not express TG2, neuroblastoma cells expressing exogenous TG2 (SHYTG2), and pancreatic cancer cells which express high levels of endogenous TG2. Resveratrol, a natural compound previously shown to inhibit neuroblastoma and pancreatic cancer in the animal models, was utilized to investigate the ...

Tslp-Induced Mechanisms And Potential Therapies For Crlf2 B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Olivia L. Francis

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Childhood CRLF2 B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (CRLF2 B-ALL) is a high-risk form of leukemia that is associated with poor patient survival outcomes. CRLF2 B-ALL is five times more prevalent in Hispanic children than others and is associated with a higher rate of relapse, thus contributing significantly to childhood cancer health disparities. This disease occurs due to alterations of the CRLF2 gene, leading to overexpression of the CRLF2 protein- a component of the receptor signaling complex for the cytokine Thymic Stromal LymphoPoietin (TSLP) on the surface of B-ALL cells. TSLP has been shown to induce proliferation of human and mouse B-cell ...

Genetic Diversity Of Easter Island (Rapanui) Population From Identifiler® Plus Autosomal, Y-Filer®, And Y-Plex™ 6 Y-Str Loci, Laura Guadian B.S.

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the genetic diversity of the Easter Island (Rapanui) population using data on 15 autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) typed with the commercial STR kits Identifiler® Plus and 23 Y-chromosome STRs typed using Y-filer (17 loci) and Y- PLEX™ 6 (6 loci). The analysis was conducted using genotype and haplotype data of 122 presumably unrelated individuals that included 48 males and 74 females. This study: (i) examined if Easter Island population had reduced genetic diversity in comparison with cosmopolitan populations such as Mainland Chilean, Polynesian, European, and African; (ii) compared genetic affinity of the Easter Island population with ...

Comparison Of Next Generation Sequencing Methodology On The Ion Pgm™ System Performance Versus That On The Sanger Sequencing Method For Hv1 And Hv2 Regions Of Mtdna, Wendy C. Argueta B.S.

Theses and Dissertations

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA in forensic applications has enabled the identification of a missing person through comparison with additional maternal relatives. Most forensic applications are based on sequencing of both hypervariable regions of the mtDNA. Sequencing of these regions has been commonly done using Sanger-type sequencing (STS) methodology, which is expensive, time-consuming and laborious. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, such as the Ion Torrent PGM™ System platform, overcomes most of these issues. In this study, samples from the Guatemalan population (n=40) were sequenced with both Ion Torrent PGM™ technology and STS methods. A high level of consistency (98%) was ...

Src Homology 2 Domain-Containing 5’-Inositol Phosphatase-2 (Ship2) Is An Effector Of Lymphatic Dysfunction, Germaine D. Agollah

UT GSBS Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The lymphatic system is essential for the transport of excess fluid, protein, and foreign materials from interstitial tissues to lymph nodes; for immune surveillance, and to maintain fluid homeostasis. Dysregulated lymphatics can be attributed to pathological conditions including tumor metastasis, inflammation, chronic wounds, obesity, blood vascular disorders, and lymphedema. Of these, lymphedema is the most extreme of lymphatic disorders and is represented by a spectrum of symptoms ranging from mild, subtle presentation to severe, disfiguring, overt presentation. Lymphedema is more manageable in the early stages of disease but severely reduces quality of life with progression. Due to lack of molecular ...

Genetics Of Obesity In Starr County, Texas Mexican Americans, Heather M. Highland

UT GSBS Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Currently, over two-thirds of Americans are classified as over-weight or obese. Obesity increases risk for many other diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer, making obesity the largest public health problem in America and most other Westernized nations. Hispanics have a higher rate of both obesity and type 2 diabetes, making them a particularly interesting population in which to study obesity. For the last 33 years, the Starr County Health Studies has collected an array of phenotypes and biological samples from residents of Starr County, along Texas-Mexico border. This study includes 825 subjects who were not known ...

Cancer Incidence In First And Second Degree Relatives Of Brca1 And Brca2 Mutation Carriers, Haley Streff

UT GSBS Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are associated with increased risks for breast, ovarian, and several other cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of cancers in first and second degree relatives of BRCA mutation carriers compared to the general population. A total of 1086 pedigrees of BRCA mutation carriers were obtained from a prospectively maintained, internal review board approved study of persons referred for clinical genetic counseling at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. We identified 9032 first and second degree relatives from 784 pedigrees which demonstrated a clear indication of parental ...

Obstetrician And Gynecologist Utilization Of The Nipt Expanded Testing Option, Sarah Mayes Ba

UT GSBS Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) enables the detection of common fetal aneuploidies such as trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13, and sex chromosome abnormalities via analysis of cell-free fetal DNA circulating in maternal serum. Although the accuracy of NIPT for fetal aneuploidy is expected to be higher than that of currently available alternative maternal serum screening options, the implications of results are not straight forward. In October 2013, the option to screen for additional trisomies and select microdeletion syndromes, such as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and 5 p- syndrome, became clinically available. Due to this rapidly evolving prenatal screening technology, clinicians ...